Australian police have thwarted an alleged organised crime hit near a daycare centre in Sydney’s southwest, arresting three men believed to be part of a hired “kill team.”
New South Wales police moved in on two vehicles in Revesby on Tuesday after receiving intelligence that the men were preparing to carry out a targeted killing.
During the search, officers found two firearms, balaclavas, body-worn cameras, and jerrycans filled with fuel. A third gun was recovered later during follow-up searches of vehicles and properties connected to the suspects.
Dramatic footage from the operation showed police vehicles boxing in the suspects’ cars as armed officers closed in. Windscreens were riddled with bullet holes.
A local resident, who asked not to be named, told Channel Nine he heard gunfire before stepping outside. “I started walking out of my house, and I heard some more gunshots, and then cars were swerving,” he said.
Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook said the arrests were the result of weeks of surveillance targeting a transnational crime network “believed to be involved in multiple conspiracies to murder.”
According to police, the intended victim was targeted because of internal disputes within the syndicate. The suspects reportedly did not know the person they were hired to kill.
Cook said the men came “pretty close” to carrying out the plot, calling the location particularly dangerous. “These individuals were being watched, and we moved at the right moment,” he said, adding that there was no chance they would have been “allowed to make it to a center.”
The suspects have been charged with multiple offences, including conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal group. They were denied bail and are due to appear in court on Wednesday.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a Vietnamese criminal syndicate hired the men and financed the planned hit. Police have recently intensified operations against Vietnamese-linked criminal groups following a series of violent incidents.
In April, a Sydney mother was kidnapped and executed over her husband’s alleged ties to a Vietnamese syndicate. Her children were also injured. In another case, a man was shot in the head and buried alive. He managed to dig himself out and seek help at a nearby service station.
Investigations into Tuesday’s foiled plot are ongoing.